1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a decorative kinetic poster display in combination with a vertical road racing game which animates kinetic mobile features of the poster display during the operation of toy vehicles.
2. Description of Related Art
Various forms of posters have become popular decorative items in children's and teenager's rooms. Frequently these posters have a particular fad theme or relate to a movie actor, rock star, sports star, or popular toy figure. Usually the poster assumes a static configuration and simulates a traditional wall picture hanging as far as its decorative purpose on a vertical wall or door of the occupant's room. The poster does not provide any additional play feature, and usually remains only a passive decorative item in the furnishing of the room.
Children have frequently played with numerous forms of toy vehicle sets, including train sets and toy vehicle racing games. Usually a series of track segments are provided which can be subjectively put together by the child on the floor of his room or on a separate support member. The rails on the tracks are energized by a transformer and toy vehicles are mounted on the rails and guided by a single pin and slot arrangement. Individual hand controllers are frequently utilized to race the toy vehicles as a toy racing vehicle set. The racing set is usually dismantled or stored after use, since it can occupy a substantial portion of the horizontal surface of the room. Accordingly, a barrier to the enjoyment of a toy racing set has been the necessity to set up the tracks and reassemble the racing set when it is desired to be used.
An example of a toy vehicle racing game can be seen in U.S. Pat. No. 4,386,777, wherein toy vehicles are magnetically coupled by the armature of the electric motor to varying thicknesses of metal rails to enable the vehicles to race from a horizontal surface across a vertical loop that extends up the side of a wall.
A slotted track racing system is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,795,154, with the toy vehicles being held on a track by a guide beam.
Other examples of slotted racing car apparatus can be seen in the following patents: U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,631,853, 3,367,657, 3,510,223, 3,411,783, 4,066,211, 4,163,555, 4,697,812, 4,728,104, and 4,997,187.
The German Auslegeschrift No. 1,137,663 discloses a toy train having guide pins that can be moved on a rail, while Italian Patent No. 512,304 discloses a toy vehicle racing system.
The provision of a kinetic poster in combination with a vertical road racing set, in the manner as set forth hereinafter, has not been taught in this field.